User blog:CamoBadger/Zebra Naming
So, I've brought this up elsewhere and was told I should bring the discussion here, so here I am with a quick (long winded) question! I've been curious for a while about how authors or OC creators name their zebra characters. Because we only see Zecora in the show, we never got any show canon on how it happens, not like pony names which are a bit obvious. So here's my question to the writers and character creators out there who have made a zebra: How did you name them? Personally, I developed a system of how to do it because I wanted to create something consistent and that made some sense to me for the large number of zebras in my story. I don't know what others use, but I go off of this system. I use examples of names from my story to try and clarify, hopefully it won't be too confusing. From my knowledge of Zebra culture in the FoE universe, it was many tribes that were unified under the Caesar into the Zebra nation (Zebrica I think is the name...). However, the tribes themselves still kept some of their unique beliefs and traditions. They aren't drastically different but different tribes or groups, even in a small area, do often hold varying beliefs. I continued this on to naming of foals, in that each Tribe has different ways that they name their children, hence the variations in naming. Zebras name their foals based off of how they believe their child should grow up. Some families or tribes take pride in foals growing into strong stallions and mares, while others think that cunning or balanced traits would be better for their children and the family/tribe as a whole. This by no means forces the foals to grow up according to their names, but normally parents name the children from traits that they already possessed and could teach to the next generation. For example; Shayle, Iredi and Obsinth are named from the same tribe, one which uses earthly substances as names to describe how they wish to raise the child. Shayle was named by her father, who wished for her to grow up to be a strong and confident (stubborn) mare. (named from shale) Obsinth's parents wanted him to have a sharp mind, but not necessarily the be strongest. (named from obsidian) Iredi was named because his parents wished for him to grow up as a resilient and independent stallion to balance out his brother's sharp mind. (named from iridium) (Yeah, they were a little flip-flopped when they actually grew up XD) On the other hand, Seer is from a tribe that completely relied on the shaman to decide the name of the child. On birth, the local shaman would tell the parents what the child was destined for or how they would act as an adult, and the parents would name the foal accordingly. She was named because the shaman predicted that Seer would grow up to be wise and possibly be his protoge, so her parents named her accordingly (a bit of a spoiler, but there it is). However, because of Cross-Tribal relationships (especially in the unified culture where the tribes are intermingled rather than separated in their early days) different families may end up with several tribe's names. Parents of different tribes may choose to name one child based on the father's tribe, and the next child from the mother's tribe. Usually, the parent's would try to balance out the desired traits of the two children, so that they could benefit each other rather and hopefully help each other to grow up into well-rounded zebras. Shayle and Felix's parents were one of these couples. Shayle took her name from her father's side, while Felix took to his mother's tribe - who named their children based on animals, especially those with traits they desired in their young. Felix was named because their mother wanted him to grow up curious and clever to balance out Shayle's strength and stubbornness. (named from cats/felines) As a side note on that last bit: In the past, tribes generally cross-married to avoid incest and keep good relations with nearby groups for overall benefit. Most tribes followed patrilineal society (the families traced their ancestors through the father's side and the household was controlled by the oldest stallion, generally the father or his father if they lived in the same home), so the wife would move to her husband's tribe. Because of the patrilineal tradition, the child would follow the father's tribe naming. However, the Kupigala tribe (something from only my story as far as I know) generally did not cross-marry with other tribes. They stayed within their own group, but kept a very detailed record of birthing and familial ties to avoid incest and such (as a result they hold very strong ties to each other because they see each other as direct family, regardless of if they are directly related or not. Every child is every adult's child and they all help to raise and care for the young). Because of this, they do not have the different tribal naming, and instead keep to a very old system of choosing names based on the season, year, and alignment of the stars on the day the foal is born. They believe this will decide the future of the child, and so they use an appropriate name for what the child will grow to be. I really hope this wasn't too long or confusing... Anyways, how does everyone else do it? I'm curious, and would love to hear other opinions on this! Category:Blog posts